Diagonal Road Trip

Yesterday I had the pleasure of a road trip to Dubuque. We followed a southeastern route along Highway 52. We traveled through many towns including St. Paul, Rochester, Pottsville, Postville, Harmony, Chatsfield, Decorah, Guttenberg, and my very favorite, Rickardsville. The weather was great, the company was great, the road was great, and the scenery was marvelous. I was happy to see so many prosperous towns. We even went through one town named Prosper. We traveled through Amish Country in the afternoon and saw horses pulling buggies. When we came back the other way through Amish country after dark, I was disconcerted by a fading yellow light on top of a bridge. I could not figure out what I was seeing until the headlights of another car lit up the outline of another horse and buggy with a lantern hanging in the back window. This area of southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa is driftless, meaning the glaciers didn't scrape it flat. The bluffs are breathtaking. There were hints of color in the hills. Driving through Rickardsville was absolutely beautiful. Rickardsville is located at the top and down the slope of a huge bluff ridge. On either side of Highway 52 the land sloped down at an alarming and beautiful angle and you could see for miles into the valleys on both sides. The scenery reminded me of an illustration in a children's book I once saw and I wish I knew which one it was. We saw lots of very tall corn, soybeans, cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. If you would like to drive through beautiful rural countryside, I would definitely recommend Highway 52.